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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24906277">Dyanmics of cross-country photography</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/rcmsw/pseuds/rcmsw'>rcmsw</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Community (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M, Fluff, Friendship, Long-Distance Friendship, Long-Distance Relationship</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-06-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 03:16:01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,146</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24906277</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/rcmsw/pseuds/rcmsw</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Annie doesn't come back after the internship, but that doesn't keep her friends from coming to her. Snapshots of their mini reunions. This is Jeff/Annie at the end, but also focuses on Annie's relationship with the group members.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Annie Edison/Jeff Winger, The study group - Relationship</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>52</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Dyanmics of cross-country photography</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The “I think so.. probably... maybe” turns to a definite no. Annie doesn’t come back after her internship ends. She’s offered a full time job out in DC, and she takes it. Somehow surprised by the accomplishment, though no one else is. They’re all happy for her - truly happy for her, when she tells them. She calls Jeff last, not sure how he’ll react - but he laughs and congratulates her. She pulls a promise from him to visit, as she did with every one of them before hanging up. She may be saying goodbye to Greendale, but she will never say goodbye to them.</p>
<p>——</p>
<p>Before any of them get a chance to take her up on her offer, she’s sent out on assignment to California. Troy has just completed his time on the ocean, weighing anchor there to join Abed. She manages to snag a few days off to extend her trip to see them — and Disneyland.</p>
<p>The photo of the three of them is snapped by a mother in the crowd, after Annie offered to take one of her and her kids. They’re in front of the entrance, though you can hardly see any of the background. The focus of the photo is on the three ridiculously happy people in it. Annie is sandwiched between Troy and Abed, her face squished but beaming with a huge grin. Their arms fully encircle her, and their smiles are as wide as her own. She’s wearing Minnie Mouse ears, crooked on top of her head, while Troy and Abed have taken on Donald Duck and Goofy. They both hold her hand through the park, and at the end of the day she posts a selfie of them on the monorail, the three splay out in one row with heads resting against each other, dead tired but still smiling. The caption reads “Disneyland fantasy ✅”</p>
<p>——</p>
<p>Shirley brings the kids to DC. </p>
<p>“A wonderful learning opportunity for them,” she says. </p>
<p>The five of them visit nearly every museum and monument, following Annie’s carefully crafted itinerary. They snap photos at every stop. Some are selfies, their faces squeezed together and smiling brightly. Some have been taken by a friendly bystander,  the whole group of them posed with the sight centered behind them. There’s candids too, from Shirley’s phone — the boys mid run as they race each other through the grass of a park, all of them with ice cream cones in hand sitting on a bench on the mall,  and Annie with little Ben on her back, tilting her head and laughing up at him.</p>
<p>Then there’s one of just the two of them, Annie and Shirley at a bar, based on the poor lighting. Annie has her arms thrown around Shirley’s neck and she in return is squeezing her tight around the waist - hugging each other close - eyes a little too bright and smiles a bit too big to be sober.</p>
<p>——</p>
<p>Britta makes a few spontaneous trips, and cancels a few planned ones as well. She sleeps on Annie’s couch and refuses any attempts to see the popular sites. Their photos in the nation’s capitol are not unlike the ones back at Greendale — laughing from the dance floor of a relatively empty bar, their eyes highlighted by the unnatural color of neon signs, or buried in blankets on Annie’s couch, nails freshly painted and the light from the TV glowing on their faces. The trip for the march is planned, the two going back to the days of campus protests that first helped bring them together. They stop for a photo on the mall, feet tired but still going. Each of them holds signs written out in neat script and wears custom shirts - Annie’s doing. They’ve got their arms around each other, smiling at one another rather than the camera, noses and cheeks slightly pink from being outside all morning and hair tucked under their knitted hats. They don’t exactly look alike, but seeing the photo, it’d be easy to think they’re sisters.</p>
<p>——</p>
<p>Jeff is the last to visit her, though she’s told him he should come out many times. It was always thrown out casually, no pressure, no expectations. But he’s not sure how to be casual with Annie anymore.</p>
<p>A drunken voicemail finally gets him to book his ticket. He wakes one morning to three missed calls from her, and a 7 minute message. She mostly rambles at him, and gets distracted by the people she’s out with. But just before she hangs up she sighs, this soft, sad sound and mumbles “I miss you, Jeff.” He doesn’t call her back, just emails his flight details with a quick “I miss you too.”</p>
<p>He books a hotel, but never checks in. She has a whole plan for his time there. Her camera reel fills with pictures of their days — Jeff staring up at the planes suspended from the ceiling of the Smithsonian Air and Space museum, their plates at her favorite neighborhood brunch spot, sitting together on the steps of the Lincoln memorial with one of Jeff’s long arms stretched out to take the picture, the other wrapped tightly around her waist as she leans into him. Their favorite photo, though, is the one on his phone, taken the morning he’d convinced her there was plenty for them to do indoors. She’s laying against his chest in a pajama set that wasn’t on for much of the day. They’re surrounded by fluffy pillows, a pile of blankets and a few stuffed animals, with take out boxes at their feet — all the essentials for a day of watching movies in bed. They were smiling at first for the snap, but then Jeff snuck in a kiss just before the click. The resulting photo catches them just as they’re pulling apart. He’s staring down at her, a smile just starting to tug at his lips as his eyes hold hers. Annie’s head is tilted up to him, her wide eyes full and bright as a smile of her own is starting to spread.</p>
<p>——</p>
<p>The next time they’re all at Greendale is years later. Jeff had asked them all to come, knowing he once again needed their help and support. A random student gets pulled into the study room to take the photo, and they ignore his protests about being late for class. They squeeze in together in front of their table, themselves a Mark II version of the group that first gathered there. They’re older, maybe a little wiser, and more settled in their lives and in themselves now, but they’re still together. They smile easily for the camera, the day has already been full of laughter and joy. Their arms wrap around each other, pulling the others in close with each hand. Except for Annie, who stands in the center, her left hand extended to show off the newly-placed ring.</p>
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